Car-axle lubricator



(No Model.)

H. H. BUFFUM..

GAR AXLB LUBRIGATOR. No. 856,272. Patented Jan. 18,1887.

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UNrrsD STATES PATENT tries.

HERBERT H. BUFFUM, OF MANCESTER, NEW HAMPSHlRE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN G. B. ADAMS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-AXLE LUBRICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 356.272, dated January 18, 1887.

Application iiled October 19, 1886. Serial No. 216,517'. (No model.)

To (LM whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, HERBERT H. BUFFUM, of Manchester, county of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire, haveinvented an Improvement in Car-Axle Lubricators, of which the following description, iu connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters on the drawings representing' like parts.

The object of' my invention is to provide a 1o simple, economical, and efficient device for lubricating car-axles; and the invention consists, mainly, in a bearing-piece that rests against the under side of thejournal and is provided with a capillary pad or wick, the ends of which dip into the lubricant in the housing and thus convey by capillary action the lubricant to the journal. The bearing-piece is pressed with moderate pressure against the journal, and has rigid bearing portions at either side of the 2o lubricating-pad that receive the main part of the pressure and thus prevent the pad from being rapidly worn out, the said bearing portions being preferably of Babbitt metal or equivalent soft material. vr[he bearing-piece and lubricating-pad may be held in contact with the journal either by a counterweight or by a spring, as may be desired.

Figure l is a longitudinal section of a caraXle box provided with a lubricating device 3o for the journal embodying this invention in the form in which a counter-weight is employed to pressk the bearing-piece and lubricating-pad against the journal; Fig. 2, a transverse section thereof on line x x, Fig. l, the

lubricating-pad being omitted; Figs. 3 and 4,

side and end elevations of the lubricating device removed from the box, and Figs. Sand 6 side and end elevations of a modification in which springs are used to press the bearing- 40 piece against the journal.

The lubricating device is arranged to be applied to a car-axle box of usual construction; and it consists, essentially, of a bearingpiece, c, having metallic bearing-faces a', that rest against the journal and are preferably composed of Babbitt metal or equivalent material, and between these bearingfaces the bearing-piece a is recessed, as shown at a2, Fig. 4, to receive the lubricating-pad Z1, which 5o may bea strip of thick wool, felt, or other suitable porous or capillary material, the ends of which hang over the ends of the bearing-piece and dip into the lubricant contained in the lower part of the housing A. (Shown in Figs. l and 2.)

In the form of the device represented in Figs. l and 2 the depressed portion of the bearing-piece or socket for the lubricating-pad is provided with a tongue, that enters a slit along the middle of the strip b, as shown 6o in Fig. 1, to prevent the strip from being displaced endwise.

When the bearing-piece a is to be pressed againstthe journal by a counterweight, the said bearing-piece may be pivoted, as shown at a5, in a cross-bai, c, itself pivoted on a pair of levers, cl, fulcrumed at d on abase-plate, e, arranged to pass into the housing A and provided with fastening devices, shown as setscrews c', that may be turned out to engage the 7o sides of the housing, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to fasten the lubricating devi'ce securely in the housing. The base-piece e may, if desired, be adjusted vertically in the housing, instead of resting directly on the bottom thereof, by 7 5 means of adjusting-screws f. The bearingpiece a is on the short arm of the levers or pivoted frame the other arm of which is provided with a counter-Weight, g, that eX- n tends across the housing from side to side in 8o front of the end of the journal, as shown in Fig. l, and is held on the ends of the levers d by screws or rods d.

When springs are employed to press the lubricating-pad and bearing-piece against the journal, the construction can be simplified, as representedin Figs. and 6, the bearing-piece then having guide projections or ears al moving over and guided by uprights eL on the base-piece e, that rests on the bottom of the 9o housing. Springs g on the uprights el press the bearing upward, and it merely has to be pressed down when inserting the lubricating device in the housing, and when in proper position under the journal the bearing-piece is forced up by the springs g against the j ournal with sufficient pressure to hold the device in place in the box and in proper relation to the journal. The pivoting of the bearingpiece a on the cross-bar c, and of the latter on roo the levers d, in the construction shown in Figs. l and 2, affordsa substantially universal movement to the said bearing-piece with relation to thejournal, so that it will properly accommodate itself to the journal.

In the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the central tongue, at, is not used, but the bearing-piece (L is provided with openings a8 near its ends, through which the ends of the lubricating-strip b are passed, and which serve to keep the lubricating strip or pad in proper position on the bearingpiece and with its ends dipping in the lubricant.

The invention is not limited to the exact construction and arrangement of the parts shown, as it is obvious that this may be varied; but the main feature of the invention consists in a bearing-piece that is pressed against the journal and has rigid bearing portions that receive this pressure, and also has an absorptive pad held by the bearing-piece against the journal, but relieved of constant pressure against thejournal by the rigid bearing portions, so that it does not harden and wear out rapidly, as it would if it received the entire pressure.

When the lubricating pador strip of fibrous material is iinally worn out, it may be removed and a new piece placed in the bearing strip or holder, and when the bearing-i`aces a' are Worn out new ones may be run in, so that the bearing piece or holder is practically indestructible.

I claim-` l. A lubricating device for car-axles, cousisting of a bearing-piece having rigid bearing portions that rest against the journal, and an absorptive or capillary pad held by said an absorptive or capillary pad held by said bearing-piece in contact with thejournal, and

` a counter-weight and lever by which the bearing-piece is pressed against the journal, the pressure being received by thc rigidl bearing portions, the said bearing-piece being pivotally connected with the lever to permit it to accomniodate itself to the journal, substantially as described.

4. In a lubricating device for caraxles, a bearing-piece having rigid bearing portions that rest against the journal, and a socket or recess between the said bearing portions for an absorbing lubricating-pad, and means to press the said bearing-piece against the journal to be lubricated, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT H. BUFFUM Witnesses:

Jos. P. LrvnRMoRn, JAs. J. MALONEY. 

